A fairy tale, it is not. But, a good movie? Well, that's something you're going to have to decide for yourself.
We've all heard the tale of King Arthur and his knights of the round table; of Lady Guinevere and her ill-fated romance with legendary knight, Lancelot; of the mystical, powerful wizard, Merlin. Everyone from Disney animators to Richard Gere and Sean Connery have sought to tell the story of King Arthur and his rise to the throne by pulling the sword, Excalibur, from a stone. But, while the movies, “The Sword and the Stone” and “First Knight” focus on the magic and majesty of King Arthur and his legendary city of Camelot, the recently-released “King Arthur” attempts to place the mythical figure within his possible historical context, between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Dark Ages, around 450 A.D.
Clive Owen stars as Arthur (or Arturius), the leader of a group knights in forced service to Rome for 15 years. The knights — Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Cedric (Stellan Skarsgaard), Bors (Ray Winstone), Ganis (Charlie Creed-Miles), Gawain (Joel Edgerton) and Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen) — want nothing more than to return to their homeland of Sarmatia. But, a Roman Bishop sends them on one last mission before he'll grant their freedom, perhaps their most dangerous mission yet.
For 15 years, the knights, headed by Roman commander Arthur, have guarded the empire's outpost in Britain. Rome decides to pull its forces closer to home because of an impending invasion by the Saxons. The knights are dispatched to provide safe passage to the Pope's favorite god-son.
When the heartless Saxons threaten to break through their defenses, they have to choose between the home of their youth and their allegiance to Arthur.
Like I said, this movie is anything but a fairy tale. The legendary boy-king, Arthur, is not a handsome prince and Guinevere (Keira Knightley) is not a damsel in distress. For that matter, Merlin (Stephen Dillane), is not a powerful wizard, but the leader of the Woads.
To be honest, I'm not really sure what I thought about this movie. It was very well-acted, but it seemed to be missing something. Maybe I just wanted the magic of the fairytale and not the real world.
“King Arthur” is rated PG-13 “for intense battle sequence, a scene of sensuality and some language,” so isn't recommended for younger viewers.
Hitting GKC Varsity Cinema over the next couple of weeks are “A Cinderella Story,” “I, Robot,” “The Bourne Supremacy” and “Catwoman.” I'm going to have a hard time narrowing down which of these movies to see, I may just have to see them all. But, I'll keep you posted.
Selina Vert is editor of Bay Mills News.
